Shoulder protector



2 Sheets-Sheet l 3mm d QM Jada r- Feb. 6, 1951 A E KENNEDY SHOULDER PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 6, 1948 Feb. 6, 1951 A. E. KENNEDY 2,540,952

SHOULDER PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 6, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3mm 4 Zwgdaz Patented Feb. 6, 1951 UNITED STAT ENT CE;

SHOUEDER PROTECTOR" Allen E..Kennedy,.Uflcz, N21

Application August; 6, 1948",, SerialiN'o. 42,981

My present invention relates to shoulder padding? for footballpiayers, and has tor'itsobject" to provide" an improved shoulder armor" that is lighter weight and which wilP give morecomplete coverage and protection to the wearer; both from the standpoint of" offensive and defensive prays.

A further object of my" invention is toproduce a shoulder pad with a one-piece shoulder capand clfpperwhich protects the'players-shculder bones regardless of theposition or" his arm or branching of the shoulders. I

Still other" objects and? advantages will'becomeapparent fromthe following description of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying-- drawings inwhich:

Figure 1- isationt elevation oi'ashoulder-armor embo dying my present invention.

' Figure-2*is=aplan viewthereofl V Fi'gure ii Isacentral' cross seetionar view or the armortaiten on line s e ofFi-g; 2

the side of the body and the underside of. the;

player's arm. Consequently when a player, wearing such a protecting deviceliftshis arm, a vital portion of the body is exposed subjecting, the playerrto a greater possibility o1; injury upon, contaotwi'th an opposing player. Bikewisa, in: the" or Mocking when the player's, arm is lifted slightly and when he is hit on theshoulder, imjury sometimes occurs to the bones of the shoulder because of their wedge shaped open space.

With these hazardous disadvantages of the conventional shoulder pad in mind, I have produced an armor which will effectively protect the shoulder bones. This I accomplish by the use of a one piece shoulder cap with a clipper construction which is hingedly attached to the body armor and has a wing portion that is always resting on the stiff breast plate portion of the body member. The clipper and its wing is so designed as to prevent an opening occurring at any time between the different portions of the armor.

The, entire protective assembly of my present invention consists of two similar halves, one of which the right shoulder half is'illustrated in the drawings. In this half the armor comprises a body member consisting of chest-and back plates 2+ and 3* connected" at their outermargins by-ani:

arch; The" topedges of" the plates are curved on rounded into the inner" edge of the arch to form a neck line, as indicated by 4, adjacentwhioh the=arch is curved over the shoulder as a; continuation of the plates, as shown at 4 The Width of the arch is such thatits outeredge 4' extends to a point in line with the outer side 01 the player's arm and from this point its edgaiss curved inwardly to the outered'ges ofthebreast and back plates, as indicated in dotted linesl in Fig". 2*. This" latter portion of the arch, is moulded to extend somewhat above the plane of the inner arch portion 4 as indicated at 4;

'Ihepartsabovementionedareformedasaunit' of rigid fiber or like material thatrcan bemoulded as a base" in proper sizes. While leather may be used for this base, in the interestof lightness and resistance to crushing blows, moulded fiber has: been found-tobevery satisfactory'for the intended; purpose. Attached to the lower ends of the-breast and back" plates on their inner sides is a heavy webbing 32 which carries the weight of the armor: and is so arranged that the intermediate'portionthereof serves to hold the aforementioned arch elevated out of direct contact withthe players' shoulder, as will be seen from an inspection. of

Figs. 3 and 4. To the inner surface o f'the-body armor and beneath the weight carrying webbing is stitched a, foam rubber padding 5 encasedin a cloth covering 6. For resistance to: wear, a soft leather covering T encloses that: portion of. the pad-ding- 5 which may bear against the neck: of the wearer when the shoulder pad is in use; This padding extends well within-the-necltcurveofthe: arch as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 for the purpose of holding 'the" armor i nxpiace against: any tendency'toshitt -laterally.

Referring now to Fig. i, it will be seen that in order to protect the wearer from the results of impact the padding is in spaced relation with the shoulder portion of the body member. The point of the players shoulder where the clavicle joins the humerus is protected by a shou1- der guard 9. This part comprises the one piece cap and clipper feature which is an important feature of my present, invention. It is attached to the lower and inner shoulder portion 4 of the arch by means of a connecting leather hinge Ill fixed to the guard by metal rivets II and to the shoulder portion by similar rivets l2. Bosses l3 pressed into the fiber of a raised section i of the arch acts as bearing points for the rivets l2. The guard 9 is also formed oi moulded fiber or the like and has a blister I5 located as to be V the trapezius muscle.

tection toa tender portion of a players anatomy,

directly above the outer end of the clavicle bone of the player when the pad is in use. Thisprevents even the lessened force of an impact blow from being delivered directly to the bone. The front end of the shoulder guard 9 is formed with an offset elongated wing or projection l6 which in the normal position of the guard overlaps a considerable portion of the front surface of the breast plate 2, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This wing I6 prevents the creation of any exposing space between the outer edge of the breast plate 2 and the shoulder guard 9 when the players arm is lifted in action. a

As best seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the lower surface of the shoulder guard 9 is padded to cushion the force of a blow delivered directly upon the guard. This padding is comprised of two sections I! and [8 of foam rubber. Section I1 is of crescent shape and is attached to the outer end of the guard. The somewhat thinner section l8 covers the remainder of the surface both sections being enclosed in a single cover of fabric and attached to the. guard 53 by stitching H] as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The fabric cover has a lower half 20 of loosely woven jersey to confront the wearers shoulder.

V In order to protect the players neck from dangerous or irritating edges of the assembly, a

band 2| of soft leather is stitched to the inner edge of the shoulder portion 3 of the body memher.

The entire assembly is adjusted in a conventional manner to the player, by a webbingv strap 22. to extend under the arm and lacing eyes 23 for drawing together the two halves of the shoulder pad assembly.

'From the foregoing description, it will be seen that by providing a shoulder pad assembly with a one piece-shoulder guard having a downwardly and laterally extending end overlyin the chest portion of the body member I am able to prevent the forming of a gap in front of the under arm of the player adjacent the chest either when the arm is raised away from the body or the shoulder itself raisedvertically by contraction of This is not only a'probut extends the area of shoulder-body armor through which power can be delivered in offen- 11. 1A shoulder pad for a football player comprising a body member including breast, back and 4 shoulder portions, said shoulder portion being adapted to extend from adjacent the neck to the outer end of the collar bone of the player, a. shoulder guard comprising a continuous piece of material having downwardly extending portions on the front and'back thereof, said guard being pivotally connected to said shoulder portion and extending outwardly over the outer end thereof, said guard having an outer edge which is adapted to cover the upper ena or the farm and the outer end of the shoulder.

2. A shoulder pad comprising a body member including chest, back and shoulder portions, said clipper assembly, said assembly being pivoted to the said'shoulder portion and extending outwardly over the outer end thereof and covering the upper end of the arm and the outer end of the shoulder, said assembly havingan offset wing portion which extends downwardly and overlaps in part the chest portion to prevent the formation of a space between said assembly and breast por-- tion when the players arm is elevated.

3. In a shoulder protective device for a rota,

.ball player, the combination of a body member including chest, back and shoulder portions, said, shoulder portion having an inner edge adapted to lie adjacent the players neck and an outer edge adapted to lie adjacent the end of the players collar bone, a raised bearing surface onsaid shoulder portion, an integral cap and clipper;

member formed from a continuous pieceof mate--.

rial, said cap and clipper member'being pivotally connected to said shoulder portion adjacent the inner edge thereof and extending outwardly over;

the outer edge thereof and covering the upper end of the arm and the outer end of the collar bone, said cap and clipper member having an offset wing which extends downwardly and overlaps in part said chest-portion and is so constructed to overlap the chest portion when the players-arm;

is elevated.

ALLEN KENNEDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of'recordin the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,084 Lookabaugh Apr.'28,'1942 1,761,206 Glahe' June 3, 1930'.

1,862,441 Till June 7, 1932 

